Mark Matson discusses investing, wealth management in new book

investmentnews.com:

In 1991 Mark Matson took a major step on the way to experiencing his own personal American dream when he founded Matrix Asset Allocation, later to be renamed Matson Money, on a shoestring budget.

At the time, his company was one of the first RIAs to reject a commissions-based model, which Matson viewed as structurally incompatible with investors’ interests. Moreover, Matson sought to differentiate himself by providing investments based on a structured investing philosophy informed by science and the Nobel Prize-winning scholarship of economists Eugene Fama, Harry Markowitz, Merton Miller, and William Sharpe.

Fast forward to the present and Matson Money boasts over $11 billion in AUM, more than 70 employees and offices in two states.

The midwestern-born and raised Matson writes about his journey, the wealth management industry and his investing philosophy in his new book Experiencing the American Dream.

“My dad was always very entrepreneurial in his thinking and he built those values into me,” said Matson. “And I think that the American dream is at risk right now. A lot of people don’t really understand the American dream, and it’s only one generation away from dying if we don’t spread it and share it for the next generation. So that was a large part of my motivation for writing the book.” 

Of course, the so-called “American dream” has different definitions and connotations for everybody. Matson says he views it more as a form of “self-expression,” rather than the materialism, or greed, with which it is often wrongly associated.

“To have the ability to create a purpose for your life and a purpose for your money, and then fulfill that purpose by going out there and creating value for other people,” said Matson. “It’s